Ice cube ejectors



April 25, 1961 A. J. KOCH ICE CUBE EJECTORS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb.18, 1957 III/ll I 1/ I INVENTOR.

H L A N J. K c H n T K 1961 A. J. KOCH 2,981,080

ICE CUBE EJECTORS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 25 Filed Feb. 18, 1957 fill-ANJ. KoaH BY ICE CUBE EJECTORS Alan J. Koch, Evansville, Ind., assignor toWhirlpool Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 18, 1957,s81. No. 640,846

5 Claims. (c1. 62--365) The present invention relates to ice cubeejectors, and is particularly concerned with devices of the type whichare adapted to act on ice cubes that have beenfrozen in an ice tray,having a grid, in such manner that the tray and grid are inverted byactuating a simple mechanism and the cubes are loosened and ejected intoa bin.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of an improved icecube ejector which is adapted to permit the freezing of ice cubes in atray that is kept in a freezing evaporator without the necessity forremoving the tray from the evaporator, as the mechanism is adapted toinvert the tray and eject the ice cubes while still in the evaporator.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved ice cubeejecting mechanism which is simple in construction, positive in itsaction, capable of economical manufacture, which requires a minimumamount of manual operations, .and which may be installed in anyhousehold refrigerator.

Another object of the invention is the provision of. an ice cubefreezing and cube ejecting mechanism which is adapted to provide asupply of ice cubes maintained in an ice cube bin without the necessityfor melting thecubes or heating the tray, so that the cubes may alwaysbe in a dry conditon and so that they will not adhere together in thebin.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an ice cube freezingand cube ejecting mechanism of the tray type in whichthe water may beintroduced into the tray and the ice may be removed from the tray whilethe tray is in the evaporator and without removing the tray from theevaporator.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and the accompanying drawings, in which similarcharacters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the severalviews.

Referring to the two sheets of drawings accompanying this specification,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of an ice cube freezingand ejecting mechanism with the parts in the freezing position, with thetray shown in freezing position in full lines, and with the tray shownin the cube ejecting position in broken lines;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view in partial section,showing the parts of the mechanism in the full line position of Fig. l;

' Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken on the plane of the line3-3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary top plan view of one end of the ice tray;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view, taken on the plane of the line 5--5 of Fig.4, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken on the plane of the line6-6 of Fig. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to Fig. 1,-a portion 10 of a household refrignited StatesPatent O 2,981,080 Patented Apr. 25, 19.61

2 erator evaporator has an upper wall 11, a side wall 12, and a bottomwall 13. The walls 11, 12, and 13 are prov vided with a multiplicity ofsinuous coils 14, 15, 16 of the evaporator, which is maintained at abelow-freezing temperature, preferably well below, such as, for example,zero F. I

A half shelf 17 has a pair of shelf supporting brackets 18, one at eachend of the shelf and each having an attaching flange 19 secured byrivets or otherwise to the side wall 12 in heat conducting relation withthe side wall. An open top ice cube bin 20in the form of a drawer has ahandle 21 on its front wall 22 and a bottom wall 23 resting on thebottom wall 13 of the evaporator.

The bin 20 and half shelf 17 are preferably made of aluminum for readyconduction of heat away from the water and ice cubes. On each shelfsupporting bracket 18,

at its outer end 24, a bearing sleeve 25 is provided for the purpose ofsupporting a shaft 26, which is welded or otherwise secured to thebottom 27 of an ice tray 28, also preferably made of aluminum.

The ice tray 28 comprises an aluminum pan having a bottom 27, which maybe fiat for stable support on the top of the'half shelf 17. The traybottom 27 carries integral side walls 29 and 30 and integral end walls31 and 32, which are joined to the bottom by easy bends at the lowercorners 33-36.

The side walls 29, 30 and end walls 31 and 32 slope upwardly andoutwardly from the bottom, making the topof the ice tray substantiallylarger than the bottom so that the entire amount of ice in the tray islarger at the top and smaller at the bottom and shaped for ejection fromthe tray.

The ice tray 28 contains a grid assembly 38, which preferably includes asingle longitudinally extending divider strip 39 of aluminum or plasticand a multiplicity of transversely extending webs 41 of the samematerial arranged to provide a multiplicity of cube pockets 43, 44.

The longitudinally extending divider strip 39 divides the grid in half,so that two rows of ice cubes are formed in the pockets 43 and 44 andthe cubes are wider at the .top and narrower at the bottom, forconvenient ejection.

The transverse webs 41 are made of aluminum or plastic sheet materialand are preferably complementary'in shape to the bottom and side walls.of the tray 28, tapering downwardly toward-the bottom; and the webs arepreferably high enough to project above the upper edge 37 of the tray,as indicated at 45.

Each web is also provided with a vertically extending center aperture48, having parallel side walls, the apertures being wide enough toreceive the divider strip 39.

The longitudinally extending divider strip 39 is preferably no higherthan the top edge 37 of the tray; and is complementary in shape to theinside of the trayon a longitudinal section; that is, the divider strip39 has a straight bottom edge 52 and an outwardly sloping edge 53 ateach end. In its lower edge the divider strip 39 has a multiplicity ofrectangular shaped notches 54.

The length of the notches 54 is such that they permit a transverse web41to lie at an angle, as shown at 41a, with its bottom edge resting on thebottom of the tray.

Thus all the webs 41 slope toward the right, to be pulled from thediagonal position toward astraight or vertical position.

The webs 41 each have an upper aperture 61 for receiving alongitudinally extending'narrow rectangular strip of metal, indicated at57, the strip resting on the top edge of the longitudinal divider strip.39.

The strip 57 has a multiplicity of laterally projecting lugs atregularly spaced points, indicated at 58, alongiits top edge. I

The body of the strip 57 may be square and of sheet aluminum and adaptedto slide on top of the divider 3 strip in the apertures 61 of the webs41. The shoulders of the lugs 58 project above the apertures 61, behindeach web, in position to pull each web forward. A similar downwardlyprojecting lug 59 is provided on the end of the strip 57 for limitingmovement of the strip toward the left.

The tray has its end wall 32 provided with an upwardly projectingbracket 60 having a similar aperture 61 for slidably mounting the strip57. The bracket 60 is riveted to end wall 32. In assembling the stripwith the webs 41, strip 57 is inserted through the apertures 61 and leftwith a lug 58 behind each web.

The lever 62 comprises a metal bar provided with an upper spade handle65 and with an aperture 78 for receiving pivot bolt 63 which connectsthe lever to a boss 64 at an end of the strip 57. At its lower end thelever 62 is 'bent outwardly at 66 at an obtuse angle; and the lowerdiagonal portion 67 has a through bore for receiving pivot bolt 68.

The shaft 26 is also provided with a bifurcated end having two flanges69, 70 with an aperture to receive pivot bolt 68. A pouring spout 71 ofa tray filler for directing water into the tray is shown in Fig. 1. Asuitable water supply leads to the spout 71; and the tray is filled bypushing a button to open a valve to discharge water from an alreadymeasured supply of water.

A latching spring 72 is carried by the side of the evaporator and has ashoulder 73 to releasably hold the tray in its upright position. Thespring 72 is secured at its lower end to the side wall 12', and extendsupwardly and away from the side wall, giving it space for freedom inbending. At its upper end spring 72 has the latching shoulder 73, whichcurves downwardly to provide a groove, retaining the edge of the icetray, and curves upwardly to provide a leading edge which may be cammedupwardly by the tray until the spring snaps down over the edge of thetray. The V shaped member 37 acts as a keeper secured to the side of thetray, and giving it a sloping surface to engage the leading edge of thecurved shoulder 73 to cam the shoulder 73 upward as the tray moves tohorizontal upright position and becomes latched. The spring 72 beingresilient and the shoulder 73 being curved, the keeper 37 earns theshoulder 73 upward and releases the tray when handle 62 is moved in thedirection of the arrows. Spring 72 releases the tray and permits it topivot to inverted position by use of the lever 62 and handle 65, butagain secures the tray when the tray is moved back to the full lineposition of Fig. 1.

The operation of the freezing and ejecting mechanism is as follows: Withthe tray in the upright position, the water filler button is pushed; andthe water supply, already measured, runs into the tray and spreads toall parts of the tray through the loose slots 48 and loose notches 54 inthe grid.

The parts of the grid are in the position shown in Fig. 2; and the wateris quickly frozen to ice in the evaporator. At any time when ice cubesare desired, the user may grasp handle 65 and may pivot the trayclockwise in Fig. 1 from the full line position to the inverted positionshown in broken line.

Then the user may pull on the handle 65, causing the strip 57 with itslugs 58 to pull on each transverse web 41. The webs, which are normallytilted toward the right as viewed in Fig. 2, move toward the verticalposition; and all the webs each tend to cam downward a cube in thepocket 43 or 44 next adjacent to the left.

The outwardly sloping end 31 permits the end cube to be cammed outwardalso. As the webs 41 move to the straight position, which is permittedby the notches 54, the cubes are all pulled looseand permitted to dropinto the bin 20. An additional web may be located adjacent the end wall32 for pulling loose the cubes in the adjacent pockets 43 and 44. v H pThe tray is then returned to vertical position and filled with water;and this may be repeated as often as the cubes become frozen.

It will thus be observed that I have invented an ice cube ejector whichdoes not require the tray to be removed from the evaporator. The cubescan be frozen and ejected into an ice bin, where they are available,without, taking out the ice tray or replacing it, and without thepossibility of spilling water.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, manymodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details ofconstruction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all changes withinthe scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an ice cube ejector assembly, the combination of a support havinga wall, a rectangular ice tray carried by said wall, and having a bottomsecured to a shaft extending longitudinally of the bottom, generallymidway between the lateral edges of the tray, a pair of shelf bracketscarried by said wall, each shelf bracket having a bearing at its endrotatably supporting the ends of said shaft, a handle lever pivotedtransversely on the forward end of Said shaft and extending upwardly infront of said tray, a connecting strip pivotally connected to said leverand extending horizontally over said ice tray, and a multiplicity oftransverse inclined webs located in said tray and dividing the tray intotransversely extending ice cube pockets, and said connecting striphaving lugs projecting into engagement with the webs, a lateralrevolving motion of the lever about the shaft axis pivoting the trayfrom upright position to inverted position about said axis, and pivotingof the lever moving the webs and releasing the ice between the webs. 2.An ice cube ejector assembly according to claim 1, in which theconnecting strip is slidably mounted in an aperture in a bracket carriedby the rear end of the tray and has a stop engaging said bracketlimiting the movement of the webs by said lever.

3. An ice cube ejector assembly according to claim 1, in which the webshave vertical apertures through which the connecting strip passes and isarranged with its lugs engaging the top portion of each web, the websinitially all tilting rearwardly at their tops and being moved forwardlyby the strip.

4. The ice cube ejector assembly of claim 1 having resilient retainingmeans for releasably holding the ice tray in upright position.

5. An ice tray assembly, comprising: a substantially rectangular panhaving upwardly and outwardly sloping sides; a support for the traycomprising a pair of spaced apart brackets beneath the tray and atopposite ends thereof; a shaft secured to the tray underside androtatably mounted in said brackets whereby the tray may revolve betweenupright and inverted positions; a handle pivotally connected to an endof the shaft extending beyond an end of the tray for movement toward andaway from the tray; and a grid structure in said tray shiftable by saidhandle for loosening ice cubes from the tray including a central dividerstrip extending longitudinally of the tray, a plurality of transverselyextending movable webs each having a vertical aperture extendingupwardly from its bottom edge for receiving the central divider strip, aconnecting strip passing through all said apertures and having shouldersengageable with the webs for moving said webs; and means connecting saidstrip to said handle whereby pivotal movement of the handle shifts thewebs to loosen ice cubes from the tray.

(References on following page) UNITED STATES PATENTS Souther Apr. 9,1907 Souther Feb. 2, 1915 5 Kelly Aug. 5, 1941 Carney July 9, 1946 ClumSept. 3, 1946 6 Copeman Oct. 11, 1949 Weseman Feb. 19, 1952 Sampson eta1. Aug. 7, 1956 Miller Nov. 27, 1956 Gaugler Dec. 4, 1956 Galin Feb.26, 1957 Frei Oct. 15, 1957 Frei Aug. 12, 1958

